Deceptively simple
If your customers help create new services: the results should better fit customer needs, the process should be speeded, and many ideas generated. However, a firm must find a way to deal with a cast of stakeholders, must speed up existing processes, and must screen a multitude of ideas.
“Co-creation…affects everything the company does, from product development to marketing, even to billing,” says Ramaswamy. “Co-creation is going to become like oxygen.”
This article discusses some of the issues:
“Lean” or “Knowledge-based” Product Development
I have a link to a fascinating article on knowledge-based product development at Toyota. A key concept is that knowledge is a key resource in NPD and must not be wasted but must flow to where it is needed.
Two of the most popular postings on this blog have been about slogans from new service developers in rapid changing Internet services:
Based on the experience of a heavy traditional Japanese manufacturer we have a third related slogan:
3. Test first, then Design. (M. Kennedy)
The full article is here. I recommend it:
A new leadership metaphor for co-creation ensembles
The ASU online magazine has an interesting article on managing co-creation of software and other services. Since different groups are involved — in-house developers, outsourced developers, users — it may take a “conductor” to lead the development “ensemble”.
Bring your baton to work! The article can be read here:
http://knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1641
I successfully defended my dissertation today. What a great feeling to have it over!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course it was on new service development — “New Service Development: User collaboration in a unique process.”
The celebration begins…
Is there a long tail?
The “Long Tail” — both the book and the article — describe how the Internet has enabled companies to serve tiny niche markets profitably. Often the “tail” the small nice products are as profitable as hit products. As I will relate in a future posting, my dissertation shows evidence of this effect even for B2B banking services…
A recent HBR article raises empirical questions about the Long Tail effect. Anderson reponds on his website:
http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2008/06/excellent-hbr-p.html
[An interesting side question is why must important articles be expanded into books in order to get traction…]
from “mass” communication to one-to-one understanding
We have had several postings about Nokia in this blog. We have discussed its Beta Labs, Beta Culture and use of ethnography in emerging economies.
The communications director at Nokia calls co-creation a move from “mass” communication to one-to-one understanding. The full article is here:
http://conversations.nokia.com/home/2008/07/co-creation-and.html
Customer-centric research methods one of Eight Steps
In Jan ’05 Fast Company converted a conversation with the principals of Peer Insight into eight steps to service innovation success.
Here are the five that most resonate with the themes in this blog:
The original blog entry is here: (Peer Insight is a consulting link on the right.)
http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2005/01/21/service_innovation.html
“Web labs” go beyond customer advisory groups
Customer engagement methods has been the topic that has generated the most discussion on this blog to date. Traditional market research methods — such as multiple-choice surveys, focus groups, employee suggestions, etc. — seem to generate obvious, incremental ideas. One-on-one active engagement such as ethnography, experiments, and “probe and learn,” seems to help get at important contextual customer knowledge and more innovative ideas.
Popular past posting have described:
The May issue of Sloan Management Review has an article on how companies are making use of VCE’s or virtual customer environments. These are not your grandfather’s customer advisory groups: customers become actively involved in design and prototyping. Like the advisory groups, a side benefit is strengthening a client relationship, but VCE’s seek a much more active involvement.
“Customers can, in fact, play various roles in VCEs… Or customers can design their own ideal products using virtual prototyping tools… Customers can also help test out products using these technologies… Most often, customers use these virtual environments to offer to other customers their knowledge and expertise about products. They act as product support specialists, supporting their peers…
Customers who enjoy these virtual environments are likely to remain involved and continue to contribute their ideas. And, crucially, customers equate their experiences in these forums with the companies themselves. ” (from the excerpt in “Innovation Tools” below)
Previous postings here about Nokia and Beta Culture have discussed the success of a particular VCE.
See a summary of the Sloan article or the full article at the links below:
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr/issue/2008/spring/13/
http://www.innovationtools.com/Articles/EnterpriseDetails.asp?a=317
ProfessorGary on Innovation and Marketing 